Even Angels Fall
by LazyApples
Summary: What was the one thing that Hisoka, Sasuke, and Shisui had in common? Itachi loved them. Read through the tragic past of Itachi as he experiences the rollercoaster of love, and sees what the word 'family' really means..ItachixOC
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, guys. Here's the first chapter of Even Angels Fall. I am so crazy about this story - even moreso than my other fanfics for some reason. By the time this story is over, I can gaurantee that you will not be able to think of Itachi the same way again (Even though Madara already changed people's views of Itachi). This is the romantic, funny, and tragic untold story of Itachi.**

**~Oh, and something you all might now know, but right now around the time Sasuke is born, Itachi and his grade are roughly around the age of 6.~**

**I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.**

**Disclaimer:I do not own Itachi or any other of the characters that belong in Naruto. However, I take full ownership of the mysterious girl :)**

xxx

Itachi paced around the room for a while. He was getting more and more nervous with every passing minute that someone hadn't come home yet.

His best friend, Shisui, stared up at him from his position on the floor. He had tried a few times to get Itachi to sit with him, but to now avail. He was getting annoyed with Itachi's pacing.

"Will you give it a rest already? You walking back and forth isn't going to make your dad come home faster."

Itachi turned and looked at him. "You're right." He then took the open spot next to Shisui. He stared at the door, barely blinking.

Shisui sighed. He had never seen Itachi like this before. He was usually calm and collected, but now it was like anything could set him off. He never knew that Itachi would be this affected by getting a new baby brother.

The silence dragged on. Itachi continued to stare at the door. _When is father going to get here? _He had wanted nothing more than his father to come through the door, so he could go see his mother and new baby brother. He wasn't so sure how his new brother would react to him. But, he did hope that he liked him. Itachi was lonely in this house. He always had Shisui, but they didn't live together. He felt that his father put too much pressure on him. He would feel better when he had someone in the house to be with.

Shisui broke Itachi's train of thought when he asked, "what do you think they'll name him?"

Itachi shrugged. "I don't know. They haven't really talked about names around me."

"Let's just hope it isn't something that means _weasel_," Shisui said and laughed. He had hoped to get Itachi out of his worried state. It seemed to work.

"Shut up." Itachi lightly hit the top of his head and smirked.

"Hey! Who said it was okay for you to hit me?"

Shisui tackled Itachi to the ground. The two boys continued to roll around the floor - trying to best his opponent. They were so busy that they didn't notice when the door opened and Fugaku stepped in.

Fugaku was baffled to see his son acting this way. "Enough!"

The sound of his father's voice made Itachi stop what he was doing. He turned to see his father, looking a little annoyed.

However, the look he was receiving didn't matter. He rushed to his father's side. "Can I go to the hospital now?"

"Yes." He then turned his attention to Shisui. "We'll drop you off at home on the way."

Shisui nodded. He never liked speaking to Fugaku. He didn't understand why everyone thought that he was so great. He was so cold towards others. Even if he praised Itachi a lot, Shisui could tell that he was a very selfish person.

He had told Itachi once before how he felt about the man. Itachi had smiled at him, not yell at him like he had expected, and told him, "I know." And that was all that was said on the matter.

Shisui knew that Fugaku was not a man to be trusted.

Walking through the streets of the Uchiha compound, Itachi's eyes shown with questions. How was his mother? What was his brother like? Did he look like him? Then the most important question that Itachi wanted answered ran through his mind.

_Will he like me? Or hate me?_

They were now in front of Shisui's house. Shisui waved good bye and ran to the front door, where his mom opened the door for him. He was finally happy to be away from Fugaku.

Itachi and his father made their way to the hospital. Itachi smiled when the building came into view. He was so _c__lose. _Even though he knew he was almost there, the walk to the entrance seemed to take forever.

When they were finally standing at the door to his mother's room, Itachi rushed in. He didn't even knock he was so excited.

He stood next to his mother's bed and looked down in awe at the bundle in her arms. Mikoto smiled at him and then returned her gaze to her newborn baby. Itachi slowly brought his arm up and gently placed it on the bundle. His eyes stayed fixed on the sleeping baby's face. He had never seen something so innocent, so pure, in his life.

"He's so…small," Itachi said in wonder.

"Would you like to hold him?" Mikoto gently smiled and began to place the baby in Itachi's arms. He held his arms awkwardly, not knowing how to hold a baby. This made Mikoto slightly laugh. "Here," she said and put his arms in the correct position.

Itachi smiled at her and then looked down at the bundle in his arms. On his head was a little bit of black hair that looked like it would be unruly when he got older.

Itachi continued to stare down at his brother as he asked his mother, "what's his name?"

Mikoto smiled. "Sasuke."

"Sasuke." Itachi slightly nodded. He was glad that they hadn't named him anything weird. Itachi smiled and bent his head closer to Sasuke. "Hello, Sasuke. I'm your older brother, Itachi. And I'm going to be the best big brother there ever was."

Just then, Sasuke's eyes slowly opened, as if he was responding to what Itachi had said. Dark eyes stared up at the man that held him. They shone with trust.

"His eyes opened!" Mikoto said happily. "He must like the sound of your voice, Itachi."

Itachi smiled at his mother. If what she said was true, then Sasuke must not hate him. He was so happy.

A hand slapped down on Itachi's shoulder. Itachi's grip tightened to make sure that he wouldn't let go of Sasuke. He then looked over at his father standing next to him.

Itachi slightly glared at his father and then looked away. _Why did he have to do that? What if I dropped him?_

"Time to go, Itachi. You have school tomorrow."

Itachi slowly nodded and handed Sasuke back over to his mother. He said good bye to her and took one last, long look at Sasuke before he was ushered away by his father.

_Why does he have to ruin everything?_

xxx

"Sasuke?" Shisui whispered.

Itachi nodded.

"Well, I have to admit. It's better than being named after a weasel-"

"Uchiha Shisui!"

Shisui jumped and turned towards the front of the room. A sheepish grin on his face.

"Don't think I can't hear your lame excuse for whispering!" Some classmates snickered at this. "Now, shut up and pay attention!"

"Yes, sensei," he said and waited for the sensei to turn around. When he finally did, Shisui turned his head towards Itachi. "How come you never get in trouble?"

"Shisui! I said shut up!"

A small blush spread on his cheeks as more of his classmates laughed at him. He turned to see Itachi smirking at him. He mouthed something at the smirking boy.

Itachi chuckled at what Shisui had just mouthed. He was very good at reading lips and what Shisui had said was 'you suck'.

"Not as much as you," Itachi whispered back at him.

Shisui smiled and looked back at the sensei. This would be the day that _The_ Uchiha Itachi got into trouble. But, to his great disappointment, the teacher didn't notice Itachi's whispering. Baffled, he whispered, "how do you do that?"

"That's it, Shisui! Lunch detention!"

Itachi continued to smirk as he watched his friend groan.

The lunch bell rang and the students got up from their seats. Itachi got up and smirked down at his friend.

"I hope you have fun."

"Yeah, yeah. Just go eat your lunch."

Still smirking, Itachi turned and walked out of the room. He walked over to his favorite tree and ran up the trunk and onto a branch. He stopped smirking once he remembered that he didn't have a lunch.

His mother makes him his lunches; He had never had to make his own lunch before, so it never occurred to him that today was any different.

He put his back against the trunk of the tree and swung his left leg off of the branch. He placed his hand over his growling stomach and sighed. He was so hungry.

"Hey, you! The one with the hungry tummy!"

Itachi looked down and saw a girl with long black hair and deep blue eyes. He was confused that she was talking to him; he had never met her before.

"What?" His voice sounded king of harsh. He was angry because his stomach had just grumbled again.

The girl placed her hands on her hips. "Don't get angry with me. I was going to give you food, but maybe you don't want it anymore."

"…Sorry."

"Ah, so you still want it then?"

Itachi continued to look down at the girl from his spot of the branch. "What is it?"

The girl lifted her bento box to show him. "I have an extra onigiri."

Itachi jumped down and held his hand out to the girl. She then gave him the food. He was surprised she had offered to give him food in the first place, but he was more surprised to see that she had an onigiri. They were one of his favorite foods.

He took a bite and swallowed. The little bit of food seemed to make his stomach stop complaining. He looked back at the girl, who was smiling and watching him.

She began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"You," she answered bluntly. "I've never seen anyone jump out of a tree that fast for an onigiri."

Itachi didn't really know how to respond to that. The only person whoever really laughed at him before was Shisui. And now this girl, who he didn't even know, was laughing at him.

He finished the onigiri. "Thanks for the food." He turned and walked back up the tree and sat back down on his branch. He looked down and saw that the girl was still there, staring up at him.

"Do you want something?"

"Um…well, I was wondering if you could show me how you climbed that tree?"

He could see the want in her eyes. "Is that why you gave me your food?"

She shook her head. "No, I saw you climb the tree when you first got out here." She smiled and then said, "I gave you my food when I heard your stomach grumble."

"Aa."

"So…will you teach me?"

Itachi stared down at the girl for a few seconds and then nodded his head. "Sure." He joined her back on the ground.

The girl was beaming at him.

_She reminds me of mother. The way she smiles all the time._

Itachi started to explain how he climbed the tree. "First, you-"

He was cut off when the warning bell rang.

The girl frowned. "Darn." However, she quickly brightened. "I'll see you tomorrow. You can show me then!" She turned and ran off towards her classroom.

When she ran her hair moved, giving Itachi a small glimpse of her back.

He stared in amazement at the girl's retreating form. Right in the middle of her shoulder blades was the proud clan symbol of the Uchiha.

_Who is she?_

xxx

"I don't know what his problem is! Now, he gave me lunch detention for the rest of the week!" Shisui exclaimed to Itachi. They were now at their seats, waiting for class to start.

"Why? What did you do now?"

"I didn't do anything! All I said was that if he wasn't so boring, I wouldn't be whispering in his class."

Itachi shook his head. "And you wonder why you get into trouble." He paused and remembered about his lunch. "Do you know a girl our age who's an Uchiha?"

"Well, there's a few. What does she look like?"

"She has black hair and dark blue eyes."

"There's gotta be something else about her. Maybe a scar on her face or something?"

"No."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. What you said pretty much describes most Uchihas."

Itachi thought about that. _He's right._

"Well, it's not important. I'll see her tomorrow."

"When?"

"Lunch. She wants me to teach her to climb trees."

"Man! I won't even get to see her."

"Too bad for you." Itachi smirked and went silent as the sensei entered the room to begin class.

xxx

**Oh, so I'm not really sure how old babys are when they open their eyes, but I'm thinking that the day they're born is too soon. But, remember people, it is a fanfic and Sasuke needs to be able to open his eyes and make noises for the sake of the story. Besides, I love thinking about Sasuke making adorable baby noises, don't you?**

**Okay, so there you have it! The first chapter of Even Angels Fall, the one I've mentioned in a few of my other fanfics (That I swear I will update as soon as I can! I promise, so just hold on a little longer).**

**Anyway, I _really_ like this plotline I have lined up for this story. I really want to make this a truly, beautiful fanfic and I hope that you will read through it to the end. **

**As always, Review!!!**

**~LazyApples**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I decided to give you a two for one deal! Here's chapter 2 of Even Angels Fall! I hope you enjoy reading it!**

**Remember to review!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything Naruto related, But you all remember the mysterious girl? Own her :)**

xxx

"Father?"

"Hm?" Fugaku looked up at Itachi.

"When will mother come home?"

"She should be home by the time you're home from the academy tomorrow. Why?"

"Just wondering." _I have to remember to make a lunch for tomorrow._

"That reminds me," Fugaku said, "I have a clan meeting tomorrow morning. Pretty soon you'll be able to come to them." He patted Itachi on the back, proudly. "Anyway you'll have to get up on your own."

Itachi nodded and started to walk out of the room. "I have homework, so good night."

"Good night."

Once Itachi was in his room he got ready for bed. He was already finished with his Academy work; It was just an excuse, he never liked being alone with his father. Fugaku put too much pressure on him because he would be the next clan leader. But, he didn't want to be the clan leader. Never once had anyone asked him if he even wanted the position.

Itachi turned the light off and laid down on his bed. He looked up at the ceiling. The light of the moon slanted across his room at weird angles because of the windows. He turned over and stared out at the moon. It had always helped him to fall asleep.

* * *

_Itachi ran throughout the streets of Konoha._

"_Mother! Father! Where are you!?"_

_Tears streaked down his face as he desperately searched for his parents. Right now he was scared, and all alone. He tried to ignore the bodies that were sprawled out all around him._

_He tripped on something and fell down hard._

"_Ow." He winced and opened his eyes to look down at the pool of blood he had just landed in. he screamed and got up as fast as he could. Pushing his legs to their limit, Itachi fell once again. However, when he heard someone coming he pulled out enough strength to crawl into a nearby hole that had been blasted away from some house._

_Pulling his knees into his chest, he put his head down on them and cried. The noises that came from outside were all that he was able to focus on. He rocked himself back and forth and tried to imagine himself anywhere but there - in Hell. He was finally able to think about his mother, pulling him into a hug. He felt safe._

_A blood curdling cry quickly shattered that feeling. He peeked out of the hole just in time to see a woman slashed in half._

* * *

Itachi bolted upright in his bed, sweating and panting. He put his hands to his face and found out that he had been crying. He stayed still, crying, and tried to forget the nightmare.

But, he couldn't forget it. And he knew that he never would.

The horrid images that plagued him most nights were all from his memory. He had experienced, first had, what war was like. Never again would he want to experience anything so terrifying. Nor would he want to put anyone through it. The feelings he had were not meant to be felt.

He cried out in anger and threw his pillow at the wall.

_I hate this! I hate it!_

xxx

"What happened? It looks like you didn't get any sleep at all last night." Shisui looked at Itachi with concern in his eyes.

"Bad dream," Itachi answered bluntly. He had never shared what he had nightmares about to anyone. Not even his mother.

Shisui let out an "oh". He knew that Itachi had nightmares a lot and never pushed him to talk about them. If he wanted to share, then he would. Still, he wanted to make Itachi feel better. "You know what you have to do? You have to tell yourself that it wasn't real and will never happen. That's what I always do when I have nightmares."

Itachi stared at him. "I'll keep that in mind."

Shisui looked at his best friend, again with concern in his eyes. He had to find some other topic to talk about. Suddenly, something came to him.

"So, you're gonna see that girl again today, right?" he said as he tried to be casual and put his hands in his pockets.

"Probably. She seemed to really want to learn how to walk up that tree."

"Huh. I wonder if she's eager to _learn_, or eager to learn from _you_." Shisui smirked at the thought of Itachi not knowing if some girl liked him.

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction. He had never thought of that before. What if she did just want to be around him? Maybe learning to walk up trees was only an excuse for her to get close to him. But, maybe she really did want to learn the technique. Until he found out otherwise, he was going to go with the latter.

"She really did seem interested in the technique."

"Well, let's just see how that theory goes."

Throughout the walk from the Uchiha compound to the Academy, Itachi kept his eyes peeled for the mystery girl. If she was an Uchiha, then she must live nearby, right? All the Uchihas live in the compound, so why would she be any different?

When they arrived at the Academy, Itachi was disappointed that he hadn't seen any sign of the girl anywhere. It was so aggravating not knowing who she was.

_Why didn't I just ask her what her name is yesterday?_

Class started and Itachi went through all the motions of a normal day. The sensei didn't even notice anything was different about his star pupil.

Eventually, lunch time came around. Shisui and Itachi parted ways. Shisui mumbled something about "unfair punishment." Itachi thought that whatever Shisui had to do, he probably deserved it. He did have a bit of an issue about keeping his mouth closed when it should be.

Itachi stood at the base of the tree and waited for the girl. Thanks to his nightmare, Itachi had once again forgotten about packing a lunch. He was thankful that his mother was coming home today. That thought then reminded him of Sasuke.

_I wonder what it'll be like with Sasuke at home. Is is really that bad when babies cry?_

Lost in thought he failed to notice the girl standing next to him.

"Hey, you're here!"

Itachi was surprised that he hadn't noticed her, but he didn't outwardly show it. "Why wouldn't I be here? I said I would teach you the technique."

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. You just didn't look all that excited about teaching me yesterday."

Itachi waved the idea off. "I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"What's-" Itachi's stomach grumbled, cutting off his sentence. His cheeks had a slight shade of pink on them. He looked away from her to try and hide his blush.

She laughed and said, "I have another onigiri if you want it."

Itachi took the onigiri from the girl's outstretched hand. He turned away from her and ate it. He never liked it when people watched him eat.

"So, what were you going to ask me?" She smiled. "Before you were interrupted."

Itachi turned and faced her Again. The blush on his cheeks was almost gone, but not completely. "I was going to ask you what your name is."

"Oh, that's right. We never introduced ourselves, did we?" She stuck out her hand. "My name is Hisoka. What's yours?"

Itachi slowly took her hand in his. "Itachi."

The girl smiled. "Okay, now we can officially be friends!"

Itachi gave her a confused look.

Hisoka noticed it and blushed slightly. "What I mean is you never really know a person until you know their name?" She ended her sentence unsure of herself, making it sound like a question.

Itachi stared at the girl blankly. "That sounds dumb." Itachi saw the cheerfulness drain out of Hisoka's eyes when he said this. He instantly regretted his words.

Hisoka looked at the ground and shuffled her feet a bit. "It's just something that my mom used to say."

Itachi didn't miss how she had said _used to_. He decided not to ask her about it. He would probably be opening some of her old scars. So he decided to change the subject.

"So, are you ready?"

The girl looked up, confusion written on her face. "Ready for what?"

Itachi walked over to the tree and pointed up. "To climb the tree."

"Oh…" Hisoka's face slowly began to get cheerful again. "Yes, I'm ready!"

For the rest of lunch Itachi taught Hisoka how to climb the tree. He watched her fall numerous times, but she didn't cry or complain. She just kept trying. And he had to admit that when she was celebrating getting at least ten feet up the tree, he also celebrated. In his head, of course.

The bell rang, signaling it was time to stop climbing the tree.

"I was just getting the hang of it, too," she huffed. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Itachi nodded and said, "yeah." As Hisoka turned and ran away, he saw the Uchiha fan on her back again. Tonight, he would ask his father if he knew anything about an Uchiha Hisoka.

xxx

"And this is you brother's room," Mikoto explained to Sasuke. She was taking him on a tour of the house. "Don't let him catch you in here without his permission. He gets very grumpy."

Itachi looked up from his work. "I do not get grumpy."

Mikoto smiled down at Sasuke. "He also denies things that are true. Don't worry though, you'll get used to him."

"Mikoto! Could you come here?" Fugaku yelled for her from some other room down the hall.

Mikoto sighed. "Sorry, Sasuke. You'll have to wait a few minutes to continue the rest of the tour." She brought him over to Itachi and held him out. "Here, watch him while I go and help your father."

Itachi watched his mom go out the door before facing Sasuke. The look on his face was like a baby that was getting its first look at he world.

_Well, I guess that is Sasuke's case._

He smiled at the amazed Sasuke in his arms. "So how are you?" he asked awkwardly. What was he supposed to say to a baby? He tried again. "Do you like it here in this house?" He watched as Sasuke's mouth made a twitching motion.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I have." Itachi gently brushed Sasuke's cheek. "I don't know if you'll ever get used to father, though. He has his expectations."

Sasuke blinked slowly, as if he was retaining everything Itachi had just told him. Well, it was either that or Itachi thought that he might be getting tired. It was probably Sasuke getting tired.

Just then Mikoto came back into Itachi's room. "Jeez, your father can never find anything."

Itachi gently placed Sasuke back into his mothers waiting arms. He smiled as he heard his mother singing to Sasuke when she walked down the hall.

It was time for Sasuke to take a nap. Itachi knew this because his mother sang him the exact same song when he wasn't able to go to sleep. However,the sound of her voice didn't always chase his nightmares away.

xxx

Mikoto knocked on Itachi's door and opened it. "Itachi, dinner's ready."

"Okay." He followed his mother to the dining area. His father was already sitting down and waiting for them. He sat at the head of the table with his arms crossed. He looked very unapproachable, so Itachi was rethinking about asking him about Hisoka. Then again, he was very curious about why he hadn't seen her around the compound. So deciding on asking his father, Itachi swallowed his fear and asked him.

"Father, do you know anything about an Uchiha Hisoka?"

"Uchiha Hisoka? Where did you hear that name?" Fugaku sounded like he wasn't expecting that name to be brought up in the conversation.

"She goes to the Academy with me. I was just wondering about her because I haven't seen her around the compound at all."

Fugaku's fists tightened causing his knuckles to turn white. "I never thought that he would come back here."

"He?" Weren't they just talking about Hisoka? A _girl_?

"Uchiha Akiyo. He had a daughter around your age named Hisoka when he left."

Now he was even more curious. "Why did he leave?" Itachi questioned.

"He's a traitor to the Uchiha clan. He traded some information on our clan with some of the other clans in Konoha. He left the village once we found out about it. He hasn't come back until now," he said, angrily. "Who would spy on their own clan? It's outrageous!" Fugaku pounded his fist on the table, causing the plates and glasses the shake.

The room went silent. Itachi was going over what his father had just told him.

"Itachi," Fugaku said sternly. "I don't want you associating with this girl. Is that understood?"

Itachi nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Fugaku then began to eat his meal.

Itachi looked down at his food. He wasn't planning on obeying his father's orders. He remembered the sad look in Hisoka's eyes when she talked about her mother.

_I want to know her story._

xxx

**So, thanks for reading chapter 2!**

**I love when Itachi is awkward with Sasuke! I get this funny picture of them in my head :)**

**Please, review! They make me happy and warm inside :D**

**~LazyApples**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so here's the next chapter of Even Angels Fall! I hope you enjoy it! :)**

**A special thank you to my first reviewer, The Darkest wizard!**

**And as always, review!!! XD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Naruto related. If I did I wouldn't have made Sasuke into the idiot he is today. I can only hope that he gets out of that slump soon and comes to his senses. Oh, and Hisoka's mine. **

* * *

"So, he said that you weren't allowed to see her? I wonder what's so bad about her," Shisui said.

"Well, father didn't say anything bad about her. It's her _father_ that he doesn't like."

"That sounds like a stupid rule then. If there's nothing wrong with her, then why would you stay away?"

Itachi shrugged. "It doesn't matter because I'm not going to stay away."

Shisui laughed at him. "So you won't stay away, huh? Does that mean you like her?"

"No."

"Sure, that's what they all say." He smirked.

"Whatever." Itachi thought back to yesterday, when he told Shisui that he had found out her name.

"_So, do you know who she is now?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Well…?" Shisui looked at him expectantly._

"_Her name is Hisoka. Have you ever heard about her before?"_

"_No…" Shisui thought hard, trying to dig up anything from his memories about an Uchiha Hisoka. "I don't know anything about her."_

"_I'll ask father tonight."_

"_Good luck with that," he said sarcastically. "Anyway, how did tree climbing go?"_

"_Pretty good. She got up to about ten feet."_

_Shisui nodded. "She sounds like a pretty fast learner."_

"_Yeah."_

_Shisui laughed. "You know what? I just thought of something."_

_Itachi raised his eyebrows and waited for him to continue._

"_Itachi and Hisoka, kissing in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G-"_

_Itachi slapped his hand over Shisui's mouth before he could finish the rest of the horrid rhyme._

"_I will knock you out if you even try to finish that. Got it?"_

_Itachi waited for him to nod, signaling agreement, before dropping his hand._

"_First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage!"_

_Thud._

xxx

It was now lunchtime and Itachi was walking over to the tree. When he got there he looked around for Hisoka. She was no where in sight, so he went over to the tree and leaned against it. After a few seconds, Itachi felt something hit his head. It didn't hurt or anything and he brushed it off to see that it was just a twig. Pretty soon another one fell down and once again, he just brushed it off. Now, the next thing to hit his head _hurt_. He rubbed the top of his head and looked around the ground for the object. Right there in front of him was a standard ninja sandal.

_What the?_

He looked up to see the triumphant smile of Hisoka. She was sitting on the branch, swinging her feet. Her shoe was missing from her left foot.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked.

She jumped down. "Well, you weren't looking up after I threw some twigs at you, so I thought I would just have to throw something a little heavier."

Itachi frowned. "Why didn't you just yell at me, or something?"

"I found It funny to throw my shoe at you," she said as a smile spread over her lips.

Her smile made Itachi forget about the shoe for a few seconds. "So how did you get up there anyway?"

"I climbed."

Itachi gave her a look that said you-know-what-I-meant.

Hisoka smirked. "What do you think I do when academy's over? I train."

"Really?"

"Why's that so surprising?"

Itachi shrugged. "You just didn't seem like the person who trains a lot."

"Maybe you shouldn't judge people." She poked him in the chest

When she did this, Itachi saw a bruise that wrapped around her entire wrist. It was a deep purple, so he wondered why he hadn't seen it before.

He pointed at the bruise. "What's that from? Training?"

Hisoka quickly pulled her arm back and hid it behind her back. She looked down, so Itachi wasn't able to see her eyes. "…Yeah, it's from training."

Itachi thought she was a bad liar. How could she get a bruise like that from climbing a tree? He stared at her and tried to catch her eyes, but she kept them down.

They both stayed silent. Neither of them knew how to break out of the awkward silence. Then, Itachi finally thought of something.

"Are you hungry?"

"…A little bit."

"Why don't we eat lunch now?"

Hisoka brought her head up and met his eyes. Itachi could see a trace of sadness in them, but it was starting to fade away. She smiled a small smile for him. As if she was trying to be strong for his sake. But why would she need to?

"Did you forget to bring a lunch again?"

"No, I've got it right here." He held up his bento box.

"Good. You know, I was starting to think that you would starve if I didn't bring food."

Itachi shrugged. "My mother was in the hospital. That's why I didn't have lunch for those two days," he explained.

"Your mother was in the hospital? I'm sorry," she said with genuine sincerity.

He shook his head. "Nothing was wrong with her. She just had a baby boy."

Hisoka's eyes lit up. "How exciting! So, now you have a new little brother!" Her smile was huge. "I bet he's so cute!"

"Why would you think that?" Itachi asked with a confused look.

Her smile slowly faded and a bright blush spread across her cheeks. "Well, he's probably cute because…you're his brother…and…you're not…bad looking." Her blush had intensified at this point and her voice was barely above a whisper.

Itachi was only able to hear what she said because of his keen hearing. And what he heard made the tops of his ears turn a deep red. his cheeks were also a shad pinker than their normal color. He turned his head away to try and hide his blush, but to no avail. Because when he turned he stared right at Shisui, who stared back at him, holding in his laughter. Which, Itachi had to say, made him look stupid. He insulted his friend because he had to make himself feel better somehow. He knew that he would never hear the end of this.

Shisui decided to walk over and put them both out of their misery. "Hey." The laughter still hadn't completely left his voice.

Itachi could only glare at him. Hisoka, however, was very polite.

"Hi," she responded and smiled at him.

"I'm Shisui. This guy's best friend," he said and jabbed his thumb in Itachi's direction. "You must be Hisoka. I've heard _so_ much about you." Okay, so maybe he wasn't going to put them out of their misery just yet.

Itachi wanted nothing more than for him to just _shut up. _"Why are you here? I thought you had lunch detention for the rest of the week," he said through gritted teeth.

"He let me out early." Shisui smiled. "Good behavior."

"Probably just got sick of you."

"Ouch. Not nice." He then turned towards Hisoka. "Is he like this with you?"

"No, he's very nice."

Shisui smiled at Itachi, who was still glaring daggers at him. "I bet he is."

The bell rang. Hisoka said good bye and ran away from them as fast as she could. She was so embarrassed and when Shisui showed up the feeling just kept building.

Itachi turned to a grinning Shisui and glared at him. "I hate you."

"Hate's a strong word, Itachi."

"Yeah, that's why I'm using it."

xxx

Itachi stepped into his house to hear the voices of his parents fighting. He looked around the living area and found Sasuke laying in a cushioned play pen. He walked over and reached down to him. Sasuke made some baby noises and reached for Itachi's hand. Itachi smiled down at his baby brother.

"Why don't you ever want to hold him? He's your son!"

"I'm busy with important things for the clan!"

"And Sasuke's not important!?"

"Right now, he's not my top priority!"

"Oh! You make me so angry! Why do you have to be this way!"

"I've always been like this. Ever since you married me, you knew what I was like!"

"No, you weren't like this when we had Itachi. You were always with him!"

"Itachi's different!"

"How can you do that? How can you discriminate your own sons?"

"Itachi will be clan leader someday! Sasuke won't! It's that simple!"

Itachi had had enough. He picked Sasuke up and carried him to the door and opened it. His mother must've heard the door opening because she came into the room before he had the chance to leave.

"Itachi, where are you going?"

"I'm going on a walk with Sasuke." He swiftly shut the door behind him and walked down the streets. He wanted to get as far away from the compound as he could.

"Awahg."

Itachi looked down to see that Sasuke was on the brink of tears. This made him think that Sasuke was able to understand what his parents were fighting about. That he could comprehend what his father had said about him - how their father had said that Itachi was more important than him.

He hoped that he didn't understand any of it. What a terrible thing to hear.

"Don't worry about father. I'll protect you."

Sasuke gave a small smile and then hiccupped. Itachi smiled and studied Sasuke closely. He remembered what Hisoka had said earlier that day.

He smiled and touched Sasuke's small nose. "You're not bad looking."

Sasuke laughed when his nose was touched.

It was Friday, so the streets of Konoha were crowded. Many women stopped and ogled at Sasuke, saying, "oh, how cute!" and "isn't he just adorable!"

_I hope they're talking about Sasuke, _Itachi thought. _It would be weird if they called me adorable._

Not too far ahead of him, he saw Hisoka go into a weapons shop. He had been wanting a new kunai anyway, so he decided to go into the same shop.

Hisoka was looking down into a case that held katanas.

"I didn't know you liked katanas."

Hisoka jumped and turned around to see Itachi standing behind her. "You scared me!" she said as she put her hand to her heart.

He smirked and looked down at the case. "So, you like katanas?" he repeated his question.

"What? Oh, yeah. I use one right now, but it's getting too old." She scanned the swords. "I think I want this one, but I don't have enough money yet. I've been saving my baby sitting money for it."

Itachi nodded and stared down at the weapon. It was beautiful. The blade was medium in length and a deep crimson covered the hilt. Two strings came off the end with a pattern of beads on each of them. Itachi thought that it was probably the best Katana in the shop.

Hisoka looked down at Itachi's arms. "So, is this your new brother?"

Itachi looked at the bundle in his arms. Sasuke seemed to have nodded off to sleep. "Yeah, this is Sasuke."

Hisoka smiled and leaned in closer to Sasuke and Itachi. She brushed Sasuke's cheek with her finger and then put her finger into his little hand. "I was right…he is cute."

Hisoka's cheeks turned pink and so did Itachi's ears.

Just then Itachi's back stiffened and he felt a form of danger encroaching in. He turned around, but was too late because a man in a mask had a kunai against Hisoka's throat.

"Itachi!" she screamed out to him.

Sasuke was wide awake and crying at this point.

"Nobody move!"

Itachi looked around the shop. There weren't many people in it and no one looked like they worked with this man. So that meant that he was working alone. He then looked back at the man. The mask he wore wasn't Anbu, it looked like a black cloth with three holes roughly cut into it.

The man turned to the shop owner. "Give me your money!"

The owner slowly got to the cash register and began to open it.

Itachi waited for the man to walk by him. He moved Sasuke to one arm, leaving him with his right arm free. He then back handed the man right in the face. Then man's grip on Hisoka loosened so that Itachi was able to grab her and pull her to him. Sasuke barely moved the entire time.

Itachi looked at Hisoka to see if she was okay. She looked fine, but then he saw blood trailing down her neck.

_She's hurt._

With Itachi distracted, the man got out of the shop. Itachi glared at the door and made to go after the man. However, Hisoka stopped him.

"Itachi, don't." Her voice shook.

"Look at what he did to you," he said and remained glaring at the door.

"I'm fine," she said and wiped the blood away. "See? It was only a scratch." Her whole body was shaking. The man had badly scared her. She hated being trapped by someone. It felt lonely.

She wished that Itachi would always rescue her from her horrific reality.

Itachi glared back at the door and then looked at the shop window. The man was no where to be seen.

"He was probably just an ordinary person down on his luck. You saw what he was wearing right? Just a plain mask."

Itachi had to admit she was probably right - just a man down on his luck. And now, when he looked back on it he noticed the man had been holding the kunai the wrong way.

He was brought to reality when he heard Sasuke crying. He put his other arm back around Sasuke and rocked him back and forth.

Even though she was still shook up, Hisoka smiled. "I hear it's easy to calm babies down when you make a funny face."

"I don't make funny faces," he said flatly.

"You probably will eventually."

"Hard to believe."

She smiled at him. "No…not really."

* * *

**So, I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Please review!!! I like hearing your thoughts!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so here's another chapter of Even Angels Fall! **

**Review!!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto related objects. I can only hope...**

xxx

"No."

"Why not?"

"I have no reason to."

"Lame excuse."

"It's the truth."

"I bet Sasuke would enjoy it." Hisoka smirked at Itachi. She knew she would win if she brought Sasuke into the conversation.

"No, he probably wouldn't."

"Why are you being so stubborn? It's good for Sasuke to be around people his own age. Maybe they'll become friends."

"He's only a baby and he doesn't need any friends right now."

"You're only saying that because you're nervous. You're using Sasuke as an excuse so you don't have to go."

"You're using Sasuke as leverage so that I will go."

"Well, it should've worked," she sighed out.

"Hn." Itachi put his hands in his pockets and continued to walk home. He had just gotten out of the Academy when Hisoka ran up to him. She wanted him to baby sit with her in an hour. Itachi really didn't do babysitting; Sasuke being the exception.

"Was that a yes?" Her eyes shone with hope.

Itachi stared at her and didn't answer.

"Since I don't have an Itachi dictionary on me, I'm going to say that hn means yes!" She smiled brightly at him. However he failed to see her logic, considering that since the start of the conversation all he had been saying is no.

Even though it didn't make sense, he decided to give in. "Where is it?"

"Huh? Was I right? Does hn really mean yes?" she asked incredulously.

Itachi smirked. "Who knows."

Hisoka pointed at him and plastered a determined look on her face. "You know what you are? A jigsaw puzzle. It's hard to figure you out, but eventually I'll get it."

"…No one has yet, so…good luck."

Her eyes widened as they both stopped walking and stared at each other. Hisoka searched his eyes for what seemed like forever. She was able to see a glimpse of loneliness and sadness before Itachi blinked. Then, the emotions were gone. When she caught that glimpse she felt like she had seen the true Itachi. What she saw made her sad; she didn't want him to feel like that.

"Where is it?" Itachi asked once more. His voice had broken Hisoka out of her thoughts.

"J-Just meet me by the hospital. It isn't far from there." She was still a bit dazed as she instructed him.

He nodded. "What time?"

"Um, meet me there in half an hour?"

"Sure."

They continued their walk in silence. Both were lost in thought about what had just happened. Hisoka looked up to see that they would part ways at the upcoming street.

"Well, I'll see you later." She waved good bye and left.

Itachi had to admit that he considered following her to see where she lived. He still didn't have all the mystery solved. Instead he just stared at the girl's back.

xxx

Itachi opened the door to his parents' bedroom. He found his mother inside putting away some laundry.

She heard the door open and turned towards him. "What is it, Itachi?"

"I'm going to baby sit with a friend, so I'll take Sasuke with me. She says they're around the same age." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Baby sit?"

He nodded his head and then he remembered something. "Yeah, but I'm telling Father that I'm going training."

"Why would you need to lie?" Her voice seemed to grow more stern with the question. It was a mother thing.

Itachi stared at his mother. He felt like he could trust her to keep his secret from his father. He hoped that it wouldn't bite him in the butt eventually.

"The girl I'm going with…her name is Hisoka."

Realization dawned on his mother's features. "The one your father forbid you to see…"

Itachi stayed silent because he could see the look in her eyes; She was mulling over the new information.

"Why would you…?" Her question was only half completed because she already knew the answer. She kept her eyes level at her son. Never before had he disobeyed Fugaku. So why now? Well, she already knew the answer. Again, it must be one of those mother things. "Okay, I promise not to tell your father," she said with a genuine smile.

Itachi gave her a small smile. "Thank you." Now all he had left to do was speak to his father. He had no idea how that was going to turn out. He turned to leave, unaware of his mother's thoughts.

She watched him go out the door, a smile still on her face. _He's growing up._

xxx

"I'm going out."

"Where?" Fugaku asked and looked up at Itachi who was now next to the door.

"Training. I won't be back for a while, so I'll probably just get dinner somewhere." Itachi hated lying, but right now it was necessary. He couldn't tell his father that he was going to be with Hisoka, the very person who he forbade him to be with.

Fugaku looked down at Itachi's arms. "You're bringing Sasuke with?"

"Yeah," he said and slung a bag full of bottles and diapers on his shoulder. "I thought that…it's never too early to start showing him some techniques." He knew it sounded bad, but it was all he could think of.

Fugaku nodded. "Good. Show him what he has to measure up to."

Itachi quickly opened the door and left. He was surprised that it had worked.

Sasuke squirmed in his grasp. Itachi looked down at him; A small smile was spread across Sasuke's face.

Itachi laughed. "You're too young to learn anything." His laughter faded and turned into a frown. Was his father insane? Shouldn't he know that Sasuke was too young?

Sasuke's smile slightly dropped, but as soon as he saw a nearby robin his smile came back.

The hospital came up in the distance and Itachi was able to see Hisoka standing by the front entrance. She was looking around and when she spotted him, she waved. She smiled and ran towards him.

"Hey!" She greeted Itachi and then bent down to look at Sasuke, who was staring up at her with big baby eyes. "Hello, Sasuke! You're going to make a new friend pretty soon."

"Blawah," Sasuke cooed out.

"And her name's Sakura."

"Her?" Itachi thought aloud.

Hisoka stood up straight. "Something wrong about being a girl?"

Itachi shook his head. "No, I just hope Sasuke doesn't get girl problems early on."

Hisoka smiled down at Sasuke. "There's nothing you'll be able to do about that. Sasuke's too cute."

Itachi looked down to see Sasuke smiling brightly. "…Yeah."

The three walked through some streets, Hisoka leading the way. They stopped at an ordinary apartment building. Hisoka knocked on the door and they stood there, waiting for an answer.

Itachi could hear movement on the other side of the door. Soon after, a woman with deep red hair opened the door, slightly out of breath.

"Oh! Hello, Hisoka," she said and smiled down at her. She then turned her attention towards Itachi. "Who's your friend?"

Hisoka smiled and gestured towards him. "This is Uchiha Itachi. Itachi, this is Haruno Kiyomi."

Itachi slightly bowed his head. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, don't be so formal, dear." She looked down at Sasuke, who was currently mesmerized by her vivid hair color. "And who do we have here?" She smiled and bent over to get a better look at Sasuke.

"This is my brother, Sasuke."

"I thought it would be a good idea if Itachi brought him along." Hisoka interjected.

"Yes, that does sound like a wonderful idea. I'm sure Sakura will be happy that she'll have someone her own age to play with."

Kiyomi then stepped aside and let them into the apartment. She walked past Mr. Haruno and over to Sakura in the play pen and kissed the top of her head. "Good bye, Sakura! I know you'll have fun with Hisoka and her friends tonight!" And with that Mrs. And Mr. Haruno shut the door, leaving the four in silence.

That is, until Sakura started to cry.

Itachi winced and looked horrifyingly at the girl in Hisoka's arms. He had no idea that babies could get so _loud_. Sasuke, in Itachi's arms, watched Sakura, curious by her actions. When Itachi saw the wonder in Sasuke's eyes he remembered that Sasuke rarely cried. The only time he can remember is when the masked man had grabbed Hisoka in the weapons shop.

Unconsciously, Itachi's eyes turned into a slight glare. He hated remembering the event.

Hisoka quickly, but gently started to rock the girl back and forth. The crying went down a little bit but still remained at an ear splitting volume.

Itachi had to refrain from holding his hands over his ears because he would have to let go of Sasuke in the process. Then there would be _two_ screaming babies. **(A/N *sarcasm* never mind that he would have dropped Sasuke on the **_**floor**_**. Heaven forbid he cry about it. XP)**

"Make it stop!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?"

"What you're doing isn't working!"

"Have any suggestions then!?"

Without giving it much thought, Itachi quickly thrust Sasuke into Sakura's line of vision.

The crying stopped.

Hisoka looked down at Sakura, who was now fascinated with the young Sasuke. Her small, chubby hands made their way to the dark locks on Sasuke's head. Sasuke didn't seem to mind at all, in fact he enjoyed it. Eventually, he decided to follow suit and play with Sakura's pink hair.

Hisoka returned her gaze back to Itachi. When he saw the amazed look she had on her face he couldn't help but smirk.

"How did you know that would work?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged. "I didn't know for sure. I just remembered you thought Sasuke was cute, so I thought that Sakura would think the same. I didn't expect them to become enthralled with each other's hair."

Hisoka laughed. "I guess it makes sense. Put a cute boy in front of a girl and she won't be fussy anymore."

Just then the two of them realized how close they had gotten since Sasuke was put in front of Sakura. They instantly pulled apart form each other - causing Sakura to start crying once more.

Hisoka, slightly flushed, came up with a solution so Sakura wouldn't cry, but she wouldn't have to be so close to Itachi: The play pen. Simple, but effective.

"Here you go," she told Sakura as she placed her into the enclosure. She motioned for Itachi to do the same, which he did.

As soon as Sasuke was set down, Sakura stopped crying and crawled over to him. She mad a happy noise which made Sasuke place his hand over her mouth. He stared at it intently and made his own sound.

Hisoka smiled down at the two and then smirked triumphantly up at Itachi. "Well, well, well. Looks like I was right about them getting along."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get so excited. They're just babies after all. When they grow up I bet she'll annoy him until he's crazy."

Hisoka frowned and shook her head. "I beg to differ. Just look at them! You can tell they'll grow up and be together."

Itachi scoffed and headed over to the couch.

"Oh, I get it!" she exclaimed and followed him. "You're just not happy when you'll have little nieces and nephews running around with pink hair!"

Itachi said nothing - it was true. What kind of Uchiha had pink hair?

"Aha! Gotcha!" Hisoka said and pointed at him.

"What?" Itachi was so confused. He didn't understand her sometimes.

"Now I know you don't like the color pink! Another piece of the jigsaw puzzle was put into place!" she explained and innocently smiled at him.

As soon as she smiled at him, Itachi's breath hitched and his heart skipped a beat. He didn't know why she was affecting him so much, but he did know one thing: He liked her smile. He wanted to save that smile in his memory and take it out when he felt lonely.

Hisoka stared at Itachi, who seemed to be spacing out at the moment. "Hello, Itachi? Are you okay?"

He snapped out of it and slightly shook his head. _What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking like that?_

Both of them sat there trying not to catch the other's eye. Behind them the happy noises of Sasuke and Sakura could be heard.

Hisoka, unable to take any more silence, asked, "you're the top in our grade, right?"

Itachi nodded in response.

"I overheard some of the other students say how amazing you are at jutsu. I know you can climb a tree, but I was wondering what else you can do?"

Itachi could see the wishful look in her eyes. He found himself unable to resist her.

"I can do a lot of things," he said while trying to sound modest, but part of him enjoyed showing off in front of her. "Have anything specific in mind?"

"Hm…let's start off with anything like climbing trees."

Itachi thought for a second. "Well, there's always walking on water."

Hisoka's eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

Her eyes seemed to grow slightly bigger at his confirmation. "Okay, that's what I want! I want you to teach me how to walk on water next!"

"What am I? Your teacher?"

"Yup," she bobbed her head happily.

Itachi sighed, trying to act put off. "Fine. How about tomorrow?"

"Um…that sounds good, but it has to be early, okay?"

Itachi heard the worry in her voice and also saw it in her eyes. The only time he had ever seen her like this was when he saw the weird bruises on her wrist.

"Okay, but why early?"

"Oh…I have to be back before my father gets home from work."

"Where does he work?"

"The hospital."

"When will he get home?"

"4:30 p.m."

The exchange sounded more like an interrogation than a conversation.

Itachi studied Hisoka's appearance as she answered his questions. She never met his eyes and she wrung her hands.

_Something's not right. _

He continued to watch her as she sat wrapped up in some world that he didn't know. He barely recognized the girl that sat before him. The Hisoka he knew was happy and outgoing. The one in front of him look vulnerable and fear sat in her eyes. He didn't like the feeling he was getting about the situation.

He took the girl out of her torment as he said, "meet me at the river by the West Gate tomorrow at 8:00 a.m."

It took her a few seconds before she found her smile, but when she did it wasn't one of her normal, happy ones; It didn't even reach her eyes.

"Okay."

The next hour seemed to go by quickly. A little too quickly for Itachi - he was enjoying the time with Hisoka. But, the time came when the Harunos were back and they had to leave. The walk home was filled with Hisoka's excited babbling about learning to walk on water.

"Can you sit on water? Will you get your clothes wet if you can? What about cartwheels and flips? Can you do those on water?"

Itachi didn't bother giving any answers because her questions came one right after the other.

Hisoka's babbling stopped as she said good bye and left him alone on the street with Sasuke, who was fast asleep in his arms. Itachi smiled down at him.

"Tomorrow should be interesting."

xxx

**Okay, so thanks for reading, chapter 4! Hopefully I'll update soon!**

**~Lazyapples**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in so long. I finally found the will power to go back to it and write another chapter. I will write as often as I can and hopefully the next update won't be months away…Did I mention how sorry I was yet?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Itachi? Is that you?" Itachi heard his mother's voice come from somewhere in the house. Most likely the kitchen. It was about the time that she would be cleaning up dinner.

He took his shoes off and trudged his way to the kitchen, Sasuke snuggled comfortably in his arms. His hands were curled up by his face and he looked so peaceful. Itachi smiled down at him in brotherly affection. It was weird for him to feel such a strong connection to this little boy in his grasp. He has never felt something this strong before and he was glad he was feeling it now. It felt greatly important.

"We're back," he stated upon entering the kitchen.

His mother was bustling about, bringing dishes from the table to the sink in order to wash them. She stopped when she saw Itachi.

"How was it, dear? Did you have fun with Hisoka?" she asked calmly, curiosity edged her voice. It was not everyday Itachi spent time with a girl that didn't have to do with school.

Itachi shrugged, trying to look indifferent. "It was fine." He didn't want to go into great detail of what happened with Hisoka. The tips of his ears grew red and he felt embarrassed talking to his mother about it. She made it sound like he went on a date with Hisoka, which he most certainly did not! They just watched over Sasuke and Sakura. It was just babysitting, that's all.

Mikoto saw the red tinge on his ears. This only made her want to press him further. "Just fine? What did you do?"

Itachi was saved when he heard his father's footsteps coming towards them.

"How was training, Itachi?" he asked.

"Fine. I worked on chakra control," he lied smoothly. He was once again reminded of how much he hated the idea of lying. He knew that it was an essential skill to have as a shinobi, to lie and deceive enemies. However, when not on the battlefield it was morally wrong for Itachi to do.

Then again he did not feel so bad about lying to his father now. He told his mother what he had really been up to, so he was only partly lying. And he did not want his father to know he was with Hisoka because he was afraid that his father would do something to her. He did not want her to get in trouble just because he slipped up somehow.

Fugaku nodded. "Good. The basics are the key to everything. Even though you already know them it's good that you practice."

Itachi gave a slight nod of his head and turned his attention back to his mother.

"Should I put Sasuke in bed now?" Sasuke was already asleep anyway.

Mikoto said, "Yes. He needs to get a good amount of sleep and his crib would be the most comfortable for him."

Itachi said goodnight to his parents before heading to Sasuke's crib. He placed him down gently and put a small blanket over him. Sasuke shifted his head a little before settling down into a fit less slumber once more.

Looking at Sasuke, Itachi thought about what their mother had said. He disagreed with her. The most comfortable place for Sasuke to be was in the arms of those that loved him.

xxx

The river ran by swiftly, carrying leaves and other objects along with it. The sun was up, but still low and partly hidden in the sky due to the ominous clouds scattered about.

Hisoka was kneeling down next to the river and was playing with it absentmindedly, her fingers splashing at the passing leaves.

Itachi stared at her with amusement in his eyes. He didn't know how she could be so amused with the running water.

Hisoka's back stiffened and she turned her head in his direction. Upon seeing that it was him she stood up and put her hand to her heart. "You scared me! How long have you been watching me?"

"Not long, I just got here," he said. "I'm impressed you found me so quickly." He had learned to mask his chakra a while ago. He wanted to sneak up on her, but she noticed him almost right away. However, he still had the satisfaction of seeing her somewhat surprised even though it wasn't as much as he wanted.

Hisoka smiled at him and grabbed both of her elbows behind her back. "I know when people are around without looking. Although it only works when people are close by. When you stepped into my range that's how I knew you were there," she explained.

Itachi's eyebrows rose. "Do you sense chakra?" He immediately dismissed that thought. He knew that his chakra had been hidden perfectly; no one should have been able to sense it.

"No. I don't know how to explain it…It's like there's a disturbance and I can feel it." Her face scrunched up in confusion. She herself did not know how she could do it.

"Strange, I've never heard of anything like that before."

Hisoka merely shrugged her shoulders. "Can we train now?"

He nodded and made his way over to her by the river. A few fish swam away when he approached.

"Okay, I'll show you what it looks like first," he said and put his hands together in front of him in order to better control his chakra. Once the right amount was applied he dropped his hands and walked to the middle of the river.

When he turned around he smirked when he saw the amazed look in Hisoka's eyes. Her mouth hung slightly open.

"How do you do that?" She was practically bouncing up and down with excitement, unable to hold it in anymore.

Itachi dropped the playful attitude and took on the role of a sensei. His voice was deep and informant. "The first thing you need to do is concentrate the chakra to the bottoms of your feet. It's just like walking up a tree, however, this is much more difficult."

She gave him a contemplative look. "How so?"

"A tree is a solid object. It's easier to attach yourself to it. Water is not solid and therefore the surface is hard to attach yourself to."

Hisoka nodded in understanding. She then mimicked Itachi's actions and put her hands together, gathering chakra at the bottom of her feet.

When she was ready she took a hesitant step onto the stream and her foot immediately went below the surface. Lucky for her she caught herself before she fell in. Her arms flailed about until she had both of her feet on solid ground.

Itachi laughed at her discombobulated state, the corners of his eyes crinkled.

Hisoka glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"You," he repeated her answer from when he had asked the same thing before. "Next time you should try jumping on the water instead of testing it out," he half joked. Part of him…well, most of him wanted her to jump into the water. He pictured it and started to laughed again.

Hisoka haughtily replied, "Shut up. I'm not going to listen to you."

"Who's the sensei here?" he asked.

"You certainly aren't acting like one," she ground out and put her hands together once more to gather her chakra.

xxx

Itachi had gotten off of the river and sat down cross legged at the edge. He got tired of standing there while she had repeatedly tested the water.

A few hours had past and Hisoka had made a little bit of progress. She could almost stay on the surface, her feet hovered only a few inches below it.

Another hour later she finally got the hang of it. She turned towards him with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She had a look on her face somewhere between smugness and uncertainty.

"Ha! I can do it now!"

"Think fast," Itachi said and pretended to throw something at her.

She let out a squeal and immediately fell into the water. She came up a second later and sputtered about. Itachi put his hand over his mouth to try and contain his laughter.

"You think that's funny do you?" she asked.

And before Itachi could do anything Hisoka grabbed his arms and pulled him into the water. It took him a few seconds to realize what happened. He had let her drag him into the river. How could he let that happen? He should have been more on guard.

He emerged to the surface and wiped the water from his eyes. As soon as they were clear he saw Hisoka's grinning face.

He scowled and splashed water at her. She retaliated with a splash of her own and soon the two were in a water fight. A small smile was apparent on Itachi's face when he grabbed Hisoka around the waist and pulled her down. Bubbles wrapped around them and played in their hair. Seconds later they emerged and Hisoka's laughter rang out around them.

Itachi blinked some loose water droplets out of his eyes and smiled at Hisoka. He just noticed how close they were which was only inches apart. A warm feeling spread over his cheeks, but he didn't move away. There seemed to be something that made him stay put.

Hisoka's mouth went from a broad smile to a curious line, her lips were slightly parted and Itachi could feel her breath caress his face. It was gentle and soothing, just like a soft breeze blowing through a field.

Both of them stayed completely still for a moment before Hisoka tilted her face and moved in closer to Itachi. Her lips tentatively brushed his before she pulled back. Her eyes were big and watery, a huge contrast to what they were like before. The corners of her mouth pointed down in a horrified frown.

"I…I…" Hisoka tried to speak, but words escaped her.

Before Itachi could say anything Hisoka was at the river's edge. She quickly got out and, without looking back, took off through the trees. Itachi lost sight of her in seconds.

He remained in the water, staring at the spot he last caught a glimpse of her. What just happened? Had she just…kissed him?

Itachi swam over to the edge and brought himself up on it. He sat down with his legs dangling in the water and stared down at his hands. He had just gotten his first kiss and he hadn't even expected it. What he found to be weird was the fact that he kind of liked it. He liked kissing Hisoka.

If he liked it then didn't she like it too? Why did she run away? Was something wrong with him? Maybe she was afraid of what his reaction would be? Then how did she think he was going to react?

All these questions ran through Itachi's mind as he got to his feet and took off in the direction she went. He ducked under some branches and in no time he came out on a dirt road. He looked in all directions, but Hisoka was nowhere to be seen.

He let out an exasperated sigh before walking off in the direction of his home, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He could still feel the blush on his face while he walked through the village. Some people gave him strange looks, but he didn't care. He just wanted to find Hisoka and talk to her which would be much easier if he only knew where she lived.

xxx

When Itachi got home he heard Sasuke crying. He quickly took his shoes off and went to his crib. He found his father holding Sasuke and rocking him back and forth.

Itachi was a little put off at the scene. He hadn't seen his father hold Sasuke once since he was brought home and here he was now holding him like he'd done it for years. Although he did look a bit awkward when Sasuke didn't stop crying, making a disgruntled look spread across his face.

Fugaku heard the door open, looked down at Sasuke a little while longer, and turned his attention on his eldest son. "Itachi, where've you been? Sasuke's been crying for over half an hour."

Itachi didn't know how to respond to that statement so he merely stuck his arms out and took Sasuke in them. The crying continued, but then quickly subsided to whiny moans. Itachi instinctively brought him closer and smiled down at him. Sasuke's eyes opened at peered confusedly up at the new person who was holding him. He seemed content with the change and a small smile played on Sasuke's lips. He cooed happily and stretched his hand up towards Itachi's face. Itachi grabbed his hand with his own and swayed it back and forth.

"He finally stopped," a relived Fugaku sighed out. He patted Itachi on the shoulder before making his way out of the room.

"Where's mother?" Itachi asked, finally noticing her absence. He had been too preoccupied with calming Sasuke down.

"She had to go out to the market. She'll be back soon." With that he left the room, leaving both his sons behind.

Itachi paid that no mind however and looked down at Sasuke. "I'm sorry you were upset, Sasuke. I don't ever want you to be sad."

Sasuke continued to look up at Itachi with his baby eyes and cooed at his words. Itachi thought it was his way of saying that he knew Itachi would always be there for him.

Itachi sat down in the nearby chair and ran his finger over one of Sasuke's cheeks. "I love you, Sasuke. I always will."

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**Okay, so that was chapter 5 of EAF! I hope everyone enjoyed reading it!**

**Please leave a review for me! I very much appreciate them! XD**


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